The List: 17 Jan 1992 (Issue 166)

Hearts of Darkness (15) (Fax Baht/George Hickenlooper, US, 1991) Francis Coppola. Eleanor Coppola, Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando. 96 mins. Long before Oliver Stone salved the American conscience with Platoon and Sylvester Stallone set about rewriting history with Rambo, Francis Coppola was confronting the Vietnam experience head on in the Philippine jungle. Somehow, after238 days of filming, three years of production work, typhoons, civil war. spiralling budgets and a heart attack suffered by the star, Apocalypse Now received its premiere, almost immediately to be tagged as the director’s ‘flawed masterpiece.‘

The events behind the making of that

i His career has had more ups and downs ' thanafairground rollercoaster.

Coppola, along with Lucas,

I 1‘ . a

Hearts of Darkness: 'a'fascinating expose of the tilmmaking process'

with the times, it was designed to allow the directors total creative freedom. If collapsed when Warners pulled its

playground — bombed due to debts from Coppola's passionless musical One From The Heart and the on-going headaches of Apocalypse Now.

Hearts of Darkness, while being a fascinating expose of the tilmmaking process. is also a telling portrait of the man himself and why his career continues to have critical highs (The Conversation, The Godfather) coupled with financial lows (American Express cancelled his credit card after the Cotton Club debacle). ‘I‘ve always spent my money on. . . big, adventurous ideas. Who cares if they leave me penniless?‘ Coppola has said. His attitude is not a million miles away from that of Orson Welles — it's surely no coincidence that the latter‘s first (aborted) film plan was an

film were recorded by Coppola‘s wile Eleanor, and this diaryfootage. supplemented by additional interviews with those involved, constitutes the basis of Hearts of Darkness. That Coppola over-reached himself while tackling Joseph Conrad's novel should

' Spielberg, Scorsese and Schrader,

, was part of the group of talented film

3 school graduates who took Hollywood 5 by storm in the 70s, and placed the director as auteur at the centre of tilmmaking power. His first attempt to set up his own studio—the ill-fated

backing on all future projects. having been none too impressed with the studio‘s output— Lucas's TM 1138 and Coppola's The Rain People. Credibility and financing came flooding back when he took on the Godfather films for Paramount, but the second Zoetrope —

adaptation of the same Conrad novel. In a cinematic world being smothered by prepackaged Curly Sues and Teen Agents, it's this kind of maverick vision that makes going to the movies worthwhile. (Alan Morrison)

come as no surprise to filmgoers today.

Zoetrope-was in 1969, and in tune

this time a state-ol-the-art, high-tech

From Fri 17: Edinburgh Cameo.

the map. Alan Parker delivers a hilarious. down-to-earth. close-to-home movie. stuffed full of good music and with some relevent social comment to boot. Glasgow: Cantton Sauchiehall Street. lidinburgh: L'C1.Strathclyde: WMR Film Centre.

I Curly Sue ( PG) (John Hughes. CS. 1991 ) James Belushi. Kelly Lynch. Alisan Porter. John Cretz. 102 mins. Father and daughter con team (with hearts of gold. naturally) trick an uptight lady attorney into taking care of them and end up mending everybody‘s wicked ways. Towerineg predictable. with a leading lady who's the best

I Dances Wlth Wolves ( 12) ( Kevitt Costner. US. 199(1) Kevin Costner. Mary McDonnell. Graham Greene. Rodney Grant. 179 mins. Costner's debut as director and co-producer. in which he also stars. was widely praised for its epic scale and its sympathetic depiction of Red Indian culture in the 1860s. bringing it seven ()scars including Best Film and Best Director. Set at a remote outpost during the American Civil War. it offersa sensitive and intense analysis of both the Yankee and Sioux factions. and of a man caught between two different cultures. ('entral: MacRobert Arts Centre.

I I.” Dlabollquest15)(chri-Gcorgcs Clouzot. France. 1955) Simone Signoret. Vera Clouzot. Paul Meurisse. 1(17 mitts. Fiendishlycleverand much imitated thriller in which a tyrannical schoolmaster is murdered by his wife and mistress. Iixcept that he doesn't stay dead for long. The famous bathroom finale has most recently been borrowed by Adrian Lyne‘s Fatal Attraction. but this is the original and best. Glasgow: GF'I‘.

I Don't Tell Her 11': Mo ( 12) (Malcolm Mowbray. US. 1990) Steve Guttenberg. Jami Gertz. Shelley Long. Kyle Macl.achlan. 102 mins. Unable to get a girlfriend after a serious illness. Steve Guttenberg is disguised as an Antipodean biker by his sister (Long) in an attempt to woo a pretty reporter (Gertz). Unforgivable ‘comedy' from the man who brought you the less than laugh-a-minute A Private Function. Edinburgh: UCI.

ITIIO Doors ( 18) (Oliver Stone. US. 1991)) Val Kilmer. Meg Ryan. Kyle Mac1.achlan. Kevin Dillon. Frank Whalley. 141 mins. From the moment Jim Morrison joins a band and transforms himself into the Dionysus of the Love Generation until his bathtime demise as an overweight alcoholic. Kilmer's superb characterisation dominates to such an extent that the other actors struggle to assert themselves even one-dimensionally. Still. Stone‘s ‘tits ’n' acid' version of The Doors' history. while selective and highly inaccurate. is never boring. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Drfvlng Me Crazy( 12) (Peter Faiman. US. 1991) [Ed ()‘Neill. [ithan Randall. JoBeth Williams. 107 mins. The John Hughes machine moves on apace with the latest supposed gem from his pen. helmed by the director of Crocodile Dundee. Dutch Dooley (1 kid you not) has to endure the company of his fiancee‘s arrogant son as he drives from Atlanta to Chicago. In other words, a ‘bickering on the highway‘ movie for fans ofannoying American comedies. Edinburgh: Cannon. UCI. I Edward Sclsaorhands (PG) (Tim Burton. US. 1991 ) Johnny Depp. Winona Ryder. Dianne Wiest. Vincent Price. 105 mins. Depp isthe unfinished creation of The 1nventor(Price). who lives alone in a crumbling mansion. unable toeven scratch his nose without needing stitches. Discoverd by a friendly Avon lady. his talent for eoiffure and topiary makes him a neighbourhood favourite until tragedy strikes. Beautifully shot. tenderly acted and full of hidden depths. Central:

I Everybody's Flne(12)(Giuseppe‘I‘ornaiore. Italy. 1991)) Marcello Mastroianni. Michele Morgan. Marino (‘enna 126 mitts. Matteo (Mastroianni). a retired civil servant. decides to venture forth from the seclusion of his Sicilian village and pay a series of surprise visits on his five children who are spread all over Italy. But he finds that the half-truths they have used to keep him at arm‘s length destroy his cosy fantasies. An unabashed weepie from the director of ( ‘mentu Parade. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre.

ITIIO FISIIDT KIanS) (Terry Gilliam. US. 1991) Robin Williams. Jeff Bridges. Amanda Plummet. Mercedes Ruehl. 137 mins. A suicidal former radio DJ (Bridges) and a drop-out former professor of medieval history go in search of the Holy Grail in contemporary New York. The

visual splendour of Gilliam's previous movies Time Bandits and Baron Munehuioen —- is more restrained here. but the blend of myth. satire and romance is strong. Unfortunately. the wonderful central performances by Williams and Bridges are let down by a cop-out. up-beat ending. Edinburgh: UCl. Central: Regal. Strathclyde: La Scala.

I Fllrtlng (12) (John Duigan. Australia. 1991 I Noah Taylor. Thandie Newton. Nicole Kidman. 100 mins. The second pan ofwriter director Duigan's trilogy. which began with 1987's The Year My Voice Broke. relates the continuing life of Danny Embling (Taylor). now at a remote Australian boys' boarding school. Wonderfully evocative writing and characterisations lift this gem above other. more slushy. tales of first love. Glasgow: GFT.